What Comes After After
by RoseFrederick
Summary: Emily hadn't known what to expect after dissolving away, no longer tied by unresolved feelings over her murder to the Land of the Dead. Definitely not this, but who says that has to be a bad thing?


**What Comes After After**

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A/N: Written for Chocolate Box 2017 for dreamiflame, wanting Emily and Sally becoming BFF.

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How can there be an after _after_ being dead? When she had died, or more truly, after she realized she had died when everything went black, Emily had figured that for the end. An eternity of waiting in limbo, always the bride who wasn't. The one who dared to hope for love someday but didn't expect to get it.

Then had come Victor, and she'd thought that at least her after could finally be a happy one. Except he hadn't known what he was doing when he recited those vows and gave her his ring. Even though she had wanted to for a little while, she really did like him too much to let him tell her a pretty lie. That wasn't the end of it though, because when she'd realized the full story, when her original groom had revealed himself and it had all come full circle, things changed. _She_ changed. It was hard to describe, but she'd felt free, ethereal even before she'd dissolved into butterflies. That, she had been sure, was the real after. She was finished, complete.

Except it wasn't so, because she'd woken again in a strange and just as fantastical place as the Land of the Dead. Halloween Town. At first she wanders randomly, unsure what to make of any of it or why she suddenly finds herself here. The residents are nice enough, but their fascination with being scary just leaves an inevitable gulf between her and them. Even when she'd been dead, she'd never thought of herself as scary, so why had she been brought here?

It isn't until she sees someone sneaking between shadows, casting glances back over her shoulder at the tower she's moving slowly away from, that Emily starts to hope there hasn't been some huge mix up somewhere. Maybe this is someone she can help by falling into this world, the way Victor ultimately helped her? Everyone else she's met has seemed content with their lot. She's still watching, curiously, unsure if she should say anything or just follow, when the other woman takes notice of her.

"Oh, hello! You must be the newcomer I've been hearing about."

"You've been hearing about me?" Emily is surprised, she hadn't realized she'd made any kind of impression on anyone. Most of those she'd tried to talk to had been too busy asking if their attempts to scare her had been successful to really hold much of a conversation. She'd had to learn to be diplomatic about it quickly, since after her time among the dead she suspected her definition of scary was somewhat skewed as she'd gravely disappointed the first few to ask. She'd felt quite bad about it, as it was clearly quite serious business here in this strange place.

Earnestly, Sally replies, "Yes, of course! Things here, they don't really change much, usually. So a new arrival is a big deal, I can't even remember it happening before now that I think about it."

Despite her earlier stealth, the other woman is clearly happy to talk, and seems more coherent than a lot of the inhabitants Emily has come across so far. Besides, she wants to know what her story is, so she introduces herself to start things along. "I'm Emily, and I just ended up here. I don't know why or how and I feel so out of place."

"Oh dear, that sounds terribly confusing. I'm Sally, and sometimes I feel out of place here, too, when the whole town is set on spending 365 days a year preparing for the next Halloween. It can be stifling."

Emily blinks. "Is that way? I thought the name was just, well, I don't know what I thought. Halloween all year, really?"

"Really," Sally sighs. She sends another glance back at the tower, and an expression of consideration crosses her face before she says, "Come with me, we can share stories."

Sally leads her to an oddly hilly graveyard, and they perch together on adjoining headstones.

"So why were you sneaking away?" Emily asks as soon as they're both settled, that being her most pressing question.

"Oh, that. My father is kind of overbearing. He built himself a nurse but he still tries to control where I go. It's easier to just sneak out than try and get permission to leave."

They talk. Sally tells her about Halloween Town, and how it always stays they same - except for that one year when Jack Skellington tried to take over Christmas, too. She tells about that harrowing experience and all the worry she felt as it happened. She talks about how she doesn't mind doing her part for the yearly Halloween celebration, but wishes sometimes she could at least contribute something new and different.

"Maybe I could help?" Emily suggests tentatively. She relates her own experience with previous residents of the town trying to be scary. Then she tells Sally her own sad story. Sally gasps in all the right places, sheds a few tears, and smiles softly at the bittersweet ending to Emily's tale. It's gratifying to have such a sympathetic audience.

Perhaps she's not here to help in the way she thought, but she is here, and she likes Sally. She hadn't had too many close friends in life, and after death those she'd had hadn't always understood her too well. Maybe she doesn't need a reason to be here, maybe she just needs a place to be happy for a while, and maybe that can be here.

"I can sing, dance, play the piano, and I spent years in the Land of the Dead. I'd love to help you come up with something new for Halloween. I could tell you more about other holidays, too – how they're actually supposed to be – if you want."

Sally smiles. "I'd love that."


End file.
